…At the beginning of January, Genius Star XI was shipping lithium-ion batteries from Vietnam to San Diego, when a fire broke out and the crew had to alert the Coast Guard.
Only a few months earlier the car carrier Fremantle Highway burst into flames with over 3,000 vehicles on their way from Germany to Egypt.
In 2022 a fire on board the car carrier Felicity Age led to the vessel sinking in the Atlantic Ocean and in 2020 the Höegh Xiamen caught fire also resulting in the total loss of the vessel.
More than 2,400 used vehicles were destroyed while in the case of the Felicity Age 4,000 luxurious vehicles including Porsches, Audis, and Bentleys ended up on the ocean floor.
In all these cases lithium-ion batteries were cited as potentially being a contributing factor in the fire.
Fires caused by lithium-ion batteries pose significant dangers as they can be extremely hot, explosive, toxic, and quick to spread. They are also hard to extinguish, making them a considerable safety issue during transport. On board ships, they can lead to catastrophic outcomes with loss of goods and in worst-case scenarios human life.
“Fires on vessels remain one of the biggest safety issues for the shipping industry,” Mark Barn, International Marine Claims Manager at HDI Global SE, said. “As lithium-ion batteries pose such a significant fire hazard, they have become a hot topic in the insurance industry.”
An EV boom and a mobile lifestyle
Due to our increasingly mobile lifestyle, the world has become reliant on these batteries. They are needed for powering many essential devices ranging from Household power storage systems, laptops, smartphones to watches plus motor vehicles plus e-bikes and e-scooters. Additionally, across diverse sectors, there is a collective push towards decarbonization and the adoption of new technologies to minimize carbon footprints.
As lithium batteries power electric vehicles (EVs), global demand for these batteries is expected to surge more than five-fold by 2030 according to the public-private alliance Li-Bridge. From 2021 to 2022 alone, global electric vehicle sales increased more than 50 percent making up a total of 14 percent of all new cars sold in the world. A 2022 analysis by the McKinsey Battery Insights team predicts that the entire lithium-ion battery chain, starting from mining to recycling used and damaged batteries, could increase by more than 30 percent per year from 2022 to 2030, eventually reaching a value of more than US$400 billion. Ships inadequately prepared
Most of the batteries are being transported without any major problems; however, the moment the batteries are either in use, exhibit defects, or are mishandled, the potential for fire hazards looms. Lithium-ion batteries contain flammable electrolytes and have a very high energy density. This means they can overheat and cause a fire, an explosion, or something called a ‘thermal runaway’. Thermal runaway in lithium-ion batteries refers to a self-perpetuating and uncontrollable chain reaction of heat generation within the battery cells. It typically starts with the overheating of a single cell due to factors like manufacturing defects, external damage, or overcharging. As one cell heats up, it can trigger neighbouring cells to heat up as well – potentially ending in a vicious cycle.
According to Mr Barn many ships lack what is necessary to deal with these risks. “Many vessels don’t have adequate fire protection nor detection and sailors are not trained well enough to fight a fire at sea particularly as vessels have increased in size and can now carry many more containers.” With Australia (next to Chile) being the largest lithium exporter in the world, local insurers like HDI Global are therefore actively preparing for an increase in claims of this type. However, they are also engaged in the battle to make the power source for our modern lifestyle safer: “As the world grows its demand for lithium preparing for the 2030 emissions reduction targets and beyond, there's the need to have a better understanding of how lithium batteries need to be stored during transport,” Mr Barn said. International safety regulation overdue
Some insurers for example plead for purpose-built vessels for transporting EVs, however, it won’t be easy to regulate a global industry despite the private sector showing a clear interest in reducing the dangers the batteries potentially pose. Over the past months, the Safetytech Accelerator launched the Cargo Fire & Loss Innovation Initiative and the Cargo Incident Notification System (CINS) published Lithium-Ion Batteries in Containers Guidelines. The European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) presented the Cargosafe study whose objective is to identify cost-effective risk control options for cargo fires.
A representative from the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the UN's maritime agency, also revealed plans to introduce new safety standards for shipping electric vehicles in 2024. The guidelines may aim to regulate the maximum allowable charge capacity for batteries. The IMO also suggested potential mandatory measures, such as the inclusion of fire-suppressant chemicals, specialized fire-resistant blankets, the incorporation of battery-penetrating jet extinguishers, and a requirement for increased spacing between electric vehicles during maritime transport.
“All stakeholders within the maritime industry have a vested interest to solve this problem,” HDI’s Mr Barn, said. “Manufactures, carriers, fire authorities, and regulators need to work together to help mitigate and over time reduce the risks as much as possible.”
“As lithium-ion batteries pose such a significant fire hazard, they have become a hot topic in the insurance industry.”
So not just for ships but for all installations ?
And I think I remember comment back on the TMT thread that fireproof VFBs are ideal for ships which can tolerate the heaviness of these batteries?
Bring on the secomd - BETTER - wave of long storage batteries!
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